San Antonio restaurants feel the heat as avocado supplies dry up

A farmer harvests avocados at an orchard in Michoacán, Mexico, last month. A work stoppage last month caused a halt in shipments of Mexico avocados to the United States and a sharp rise in price. While the average consumer might not have noticed anything amiss in the produce aisle, restauranteurs saw skyrocketing wholesale prices. less

A farmer harvests avocados at an orchard in Michoacán, Mexico, last month. A work stoppage last month caused a halt in shipments of Mexico avocados to the United States and a sharp rise in price. While the ... more

Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt /AFP /Getty Images

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A farmer harvests avocados in Michoacan, Mexico. Michoacán produces some 75 percent of U.S. avocado imports.

A farmer harvests avocados in Michoacan, Mexico. Michoacán produces some 75 percent of U.S. avocado imports.

Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt /AFP /Getty Images

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A dispute between avocado growers and packing companies in Mexico left U.S. wholesalers scrambling to find new sources for the knobby green fruit wherever they could, upping shipments from Chile, Peru and the Dominican Republic. less

A dispute between avocado growers and packing companies in Mexico left U.S. wholesalers scrambling to find new sources for the knobby green fruit wherever they could, upping shipments from Chile, Peru and the ... more

Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt /AFP /Getty Images

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Now that issues in Mexico have been resolved, avocado shipments are coming in at a catch-up pace. And prices are heading back down.

Now that issues in Mexico have been resolved, avocado shipments are coming in at a catch-up pace. And prices are heading back down.

Photo: Ronaldo Schemidt /AFP /Getty Images

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A view from California-based Henry Avocado Corp.’s San Antonio facility, which is a hub for shipping avocados throughout Texas and nearby states. Avocados have become a menu mainstay in large part due to the availability of Mexican avocados, and a recent grower’s strike had a noticeable impact on even non-Mexican restaurants. less

A view from California-based Henry Avocado Corp.’s San Antonio facility, which is a hub for shipping avocados throughout Texas and nearby states. Avocados have become a menu mainstay in large part due to the ... more

Photo: San Antonio Express-News /File Photo

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A woman prepares a bag of avocados in Mexico City. About 75 percent of avocado imports into the United States come from Mexico.

A woman prepares a bag of avocados in Mexico City. About 75 percent of avocado imports into the United States come from Mexico.

Photo: Nick Wagner /Associated Press

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A man works at an avocado orchard in Michoacan, Mexico. A work stoppage last month caused a halt in shipments of Mexico avocados to the United States and a sharp rise in price. While the average consumer might not have noticed anything amiss in the produce aisle, restauranteurs saw skyrocketing wholesale prices. less

A man works at an avocado orchard in Michoacan, Mexico. A work stoppage last month caused a halt in shipments of Mexico avocados to the United States and a sharp rise in price. While the average consumer might ... more

Photo: Associated Press /File Photo

San Antonio restaurants feel the heat as avocado supplies dry up

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When you’re the owner of three Mexican restaurants in a city that trumpets its south of the border flavor, you just can’t get stingy with the avocados.

So when a growers’ strike in the southern Mexican state of Michoacán in recent weeks put avocados in short supply, Diana Barrios Treviño of Los Barrios Family Restaurants had to pony up more than three times the usual price to keep the guacamole, fajitas, chalupas and a host of other dishes flowing. She’s been known to refer to the knobby-skinned fruit as “green gold” and “Mexican butter.”

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“We cannot eight-six them,” said Barrios. “They’re a staple on our menu, so you know we have to have them.”

The disruption stemmed from a dispute between growers and packing companies, with the former contending they were getting shortchanged. Things got ugly, with some 500 workers blocking roads and threatening to break seals to stop or spoil shipments. For about two weeks, the trucks just weren’t moving north. According the media reports, the strike ended Oct. 14, but it’s taking a while for prices to normalize.

With the California avocado harvest wrapped up, the strike in Michoacán, which produces some 75 percent of U.S. avocado imports, came at bad time.

U.S. wholesalers scrambled to find new sources wherever they could, upping shipments from Chile, Peru and the Dominican Republic.

Those buying one or two at a time for guacamole during Cowboys games or the World Series may not even have noticed anything amiss.

“We have a strong supply of avocados, so our supply was not impacted,” H-E-B spokesman Dya Campos said in an email.

“Retail prices are about the same,”from 88 cents for a small avocado up to $1.50 for a large, Campos said.

But those buying in bulk couldn’t not notice prices that skyrocketed, from about $30 a box (boxes contain 30 to 60 avocados, depending on their size) to more than $100 in California. Some restaurants did “eighty-six” avocado concoctions from the bill of fare. The resulting Twitterverse panic evoked memories of the lime shortage of 2014, with some avocado fans suggesting an all-out “guacapolypse.”

“Inventories were at extremely low levels, so it is taking some time for the retailers and restaurants to be restocked at adequate levels,” said Phil Henry of California-based Phil Henry Avocado Corp., which operates a distribution center in San Antonio.

In the meantime, Gerald Shirley, owner of Sukeban Sushi in Southtown, realized just how prominent the ingredient had become to his sushi lineup. The avocado is not just for California rolls anymore.

“They definitely appear inside many rolls and there’s a few rolls (that) have them on them on the top,” he said. “And they work their way into other little things, too. Different appetizers might have a topping of it.”

Like Barrios, he kept the “green gold” on the menu and chalked up rising prices to the cost of doing business.

Business

“Everything we deal with has some type of supply issue at some point or another,” he said. “Sometimes there’s a bad fish harvest, a certain species will be higher than they’re expecting. Disruptions are sort of priced into things.”

The good news is that now that issues in Mexico have been resolved, avocado shipments are coming in at a catch-up pace. And prices are heading back down. Barrios said a box of avocados costs about $60 now.

The U.S. on average consumes more than 43 million pounds of avocados a week. As of Oct. 29, Mexico was sending about 61 million pounds weekly into the U.S., said Emiliano Escobedo of the California-based Hass Avocado Board.

“They’re basically shipping at a rate above what the United States typically consumes in a week, and that is to fill that pipeline, that gap,” Escobedo said.

Another piece of good news is the nature of the avocado itself. “It’s a crop that can sit on the tree for several months before it’s harvested. So (the strike) didn’t affect the quality,” Escobedo said. “It’s something that’s unique to avocados.”

San Antonio wholesaler Rudy Fernandez said prices should continue to come down during the next few weeks.

“By the time the Super Bowl comes around, they should be at about half the price that they are now,” Fernandez said.

If anything, Escobedo said, the disruption will be no more than a hiccup. He still expects this year’s Mexican avocado imports to top last year’s 1.75 billion pounds.

“This year, we’re projecting to ship 1.78 billion pounds,” he said. “Mexico exports to the United States will not drop. They will be about the same or slightly higher.”

Escobedo said the takeaway should be that the U.S. consumer has become enamored with a product that is as healthy as it is tasty. That demand has led markets to cultivate new supply chains.

Last week, the Colombian ambassador to the U.S. announced the start of rulemaking to allow Colombian-grown Hass avocados, by far the leading variety, to be shipped to the U.S.

“This is an important step forward in expanding U.S. market access for Colombia’s avocado growers and exporters and strengthening the robust U.S.-Colombia trade partnership,” Ambassador Juan Carlos Pinzón said in a news release.

U.S. consumers stand to benefit with a supply that’s better able to keep up with growing demand, even if price declines are projected at less than 2 percent, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant Health Inspection Service said in its proposal to allow the Colombian avocados.

“U.S. avocado imports have increased significantly over the years. A growing U.S. population and growing Hispanic share of the population, greater awareness of the avocado’s health benefits, year-round availability of fresh, affordable Hass avocados, and greater disposable income have contributed to the increased demand,” the department said.

While Central and South American imports may come in through ports in Houston or the East Coast, Bret Erickson of the Mission-based Texas International Produce Association said Texas border importers aren’t worried about the competition.

In fact, Texas importers are experiencing a surge in shipments. The dollar value of produce imports at the Hidalgo International Bridge this year topped those going through centurylong leader Nogales, Arizona. Researchers at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management attributed their state’s lost lead largely due to infrastructure that made shipping avocados and other products through Texas a better bet.

Erickson said completion of highway infrastructure improvements in Mexico such as the Supervía highway and Mazatlán-Durango bridge spurred produce importers from Arizona and California to shift to Texas ports to take advantage of reduced costs and delivery times. That, combined with an increase in cold storage and shipping and packing space, has allowed volumes to increase at a 25 percent to 30 percent annual rate in recent years. He expected that growth rate to reach a plateau.

“I see it (new suppliers) as a healthy way to supplement U.S. demand for avocados, which is growing rapidly,” Erickson said.“I think the demand is so big for all these commodities that are crossing through our ports — avocados, broccoli, onions, lettuce, limes — (there are) so many commodities, so much demand, that I don’t see it taking away from the growth that we’ve seen.”